Movies Like The Waiter Diaries

If you liked The Waiter Diaries (2012), a movie directed by Jabari Clarke-Pennegan, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)
★ 6.1/10
Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live…
2
Waiting... (2005)
★ 6.2/10
Young employees at Shenaniganz restaurant collectively stave off boredom and adulthood with their antics.
3
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2026)
★ 7.1/10
A 'Man from the Future' arrives at an LA diner where he must recruit the precise combination of disgruntled patrons to join him on a one-night quest to save the world from the terminal threat of a rogue artificial…
4
Tony (2026)
★ 7.4/10
A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.
5
A Little Princess (1995)
★ 7.6/10
When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who…
6
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
★ 7/10
An award-winning cynical journalist, Lloyd Vogel, begrudgingly accepts an assignment to write an Esquire profile piece on the beloved television icon Fred Rogers. After his encounter with Rogers, Vogel's perspective on…
7
Flamin' Hot (2023)
★ 8/10
The inspiring true story of Richard Montañez, the Frito Lay janitor who channeled his Mexican American heritage and upbringing to turn the iconic Flamin' Hot Cheetos into a snack that disrupted the food industry and…
8
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
★ 7.5/10
Wally, a struggling playwright and actor, reluctantly agrees to catch up with his old friend Andre, a theater director who disappeared several years prior in order to travel the world. Meeting at a posh Manhattan…
9
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021)
★ 7/10
An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef became a world-renowned cultural icon. This unflinching look at Anthony Bourdain reverberates with his presence, in his own voice and in the way he indelibly…
10
Elevator Girl (2010)
★ 6/10
A smart, uptight attorney and a disorganized yet passionate and creative woman meet in a stuck elevator, and sparks ignite instantly. Will opposites attract, or are they simply passing time before getting off on…
11
RBG (2018)
★ 7.5/10
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg now 84, and still inspired by the lawyers who defended free speech during the Red Scare, Ginsburg refuses to relinquish her passionate duty, steadily fighting for equal rights for all…
12
Steve Jobs (2015)
★ 6.8/10
Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at…
13
WHAM! (2023)
★ 7.3/10
Through archival interviews and footage, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley relive the arc of their Wham! career, from 70s best buds to 80s pop icons.
14
The Barbie Diaries (2006)
★ 6.5/10
Barbie is disheartened when Todd breaks her heart and goes back to his former girlfriend. But things change when she comes across a diary, which makes her wishes come true.
15
The Burning Plain (2008)
★ 6.6/10
A trailer is burning in the middle of a plain. The bodies of two adulterous lovers are found. Scenes from both families, before and after the dramatic events, suggest an unusual connection between them. But what is…
16
Before Midnight (2013)
★ 7.5/10
It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters but have spent a summer in Greece at the invitation of…
17
Frankie and Johnny (1991)
★ 6.8/10
When Johnny is released from prison following a forgery charge, he quickly lands a job as a short-order cook at a New York diner. Following a brief fling with waitress Cora, he develops an attraction for Cora's friend…
18
Petals on the Wind (2014)
★ 6.6/10
This sequel to Flowers in the Attic picks up 10 years after Cathy, Chris and Carrie managed to escape Foxworth Hall.
19
Last Straw (2024)
★ 6/10
A rural roadside diner becomes the host of a maniacal killing spree – leaving a young waitress to clean up the mess. After hard-headed Nancy fires the staff at her dad’s diner, she decides to cover the last shift of…
20
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
★ 5.9/10
Freddy Krueger returns once again to terrorize the dreams of the remaining Dream Warriors, as well as those of a young woman who may be able to defeat him for good.